


The First Time (It Snows) Is so Beautiful

by Mobi_On_A_Mission



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Murphy has never seen snow before and that is quickly remedied, Snowball Fight, also he's never kissed anyone, and just generally being adorable, set between 3x02 and 3x05, so it's first times all around
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:28:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22627105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mobi_On_A_Mission/pseuds/Mobi_On_A_Mission
Summary: John all but tackled her, shoving a glob of snow in between her shoulder blades and pushing her to the ground with the force of it. They fell in a heap, John crashing down beside her with his arm strewn over her back.The snow was cold on Emori’s cheek. Her body was alive and wet with the melting snow. She shivered. John was panting and smiling like an idiot, and she realized that she was too. He stroked his thumb absentmindedly where it lay on her back while they caught their breath.His touch brought her attention to how close they were to each other. She liked the weight of his arm around her and his leg draped over hers. But it wasn’t enough.Emori scooted closer. “I’m cold, John.”
Relationships: Emori/John Murphy (The 100)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 27





	The First Time (It Snows) Is so Beautiful

Emori and John were in the woods. It had been a few days since they’d run off in her boat, and they were in between marks on the road to Polis. She was teaching him how to set traps for small game. It was hard to pay attention to the knots she was tying, though, with how good he looked and the way he was looking at her. John had this way about him that made every nerve in her body stand on end. The way his hand brushed against hers as she passed him the rope, the way his gaze concentrated on her as she was showing him how to set the traps. It had her stomach twisting up in knots along with the strings.

The dry air bit at Emori’s skin. Even now, long into the winter, she couldn’t help but notice the chill of her skin, little pin pricks all over her body. Her lips were chapped and so were her hands.

John was finishing up setting the second trap when the first snowflakes fell. Emori saw them on his head, little white flecks on his slicked back hair. She didn’t think much of it at first. There were only a few flakes, and she and John weren’t far from the cave. There was no reason to expect a snowstorm and they could get back quickly if it turned into a blizzard.

She didn’t think much of it at all, until she saw the look on his face. His jaw gaped open, staring at her scarf and the snowflakes she knew were collecting there.

“Is that-” he asked, glancing around.

“-snow?” she guessed. “Yeah, this is snow. First time?”

John stood without answering her. He walked into the clearing, movements slow and full of wonder. He tilted his head up to the sky and extended his arms, spinning so carefully Emori could swear he thought the snow would disappear if he made a sudden movement. Like it was a dream he could accidentally snap himself out of.

She let a smile creep onto her face as she watched John enjoy the snow. “Guess you really _were_ born in space!” Emori followed him into the clearing. She laughed and threw her head back, sticking her tongue out to catch the snowflakes as they fell. It had been so long since she had done something like this. In a life all about survival, she rarely stopped to appreciate the simple things.

John was different. He saw everything like a child. It was hard to imagine that he had lived so long without really experiencing anything. Whatever they did together, it was his first time, and experiencing it with him made Emori feel like it was her first time too. Everything felt so new with John at her side, awe-struck at the world, breathing new life into the mundane.

Emori threw her hands out just like he did, squeezing her eyes shut and spinning around with her tongue out. The snowflakes melted to water on her tongue, and she relished the half second before they melted, still light and airy and cold.

When she opened her eyes, John had his tongue out just like she had. He wasn’t spinning around anymore, but his arms were still outstretched. His hair was dotted with glittering snowflakes and his pale cheeks were stained with pink from the cold.

“What does it taste like?” she asked, stepping toward him.

John’s eyes flitted open and he lowered his chin to look at her. His face split in a reluctant grin. “It tastes like water, idiot.”

She rolled her eyes. “That’s because it’s made of water, _idiot_. What does it feel like?”

John took another step toward her, and now they were just inches apart. Emori had to tilt her head up to look him in the eye.

“It feels like magic.”

Emori chuckled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. She was too busy holding his gaze. John’s breath was warm against her face, and it was jarring that she could feel it. She didn’t know how they had gotten so close.

“Just wait until it collects on the ground, John. It turns everything white and quiet.” He glanced down to her lips as she spoke. “Now _that’s_ magical.”

He bit his lip and ducked his head away from her. A wave of disappointment washed over Emori. She didn’t know what she expected to happen, but it was nice having John so close. Now the moment was gone, and the chill of the wind got to her. She shivered, teeth chattering.

“I think it’s time to build a fire,” John said, “warm up a little. I can do it all by myself this time, yeah? You don’t have to lift a finger.”

Emori puffed out a breath. “That’s doubtful.”

“You’ll eat your words. I’m an arsonist, remember?” He brought a hand up to rub at his nose. “Fire’s kinda my thing.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Then why’d I have to teach you in the first place?”

“I was just humouring you,” John said with a shake of his head. She didn’t really believe him, but she let him have this.

***

John held true to his word. He built them a fire, back in the cave. Usually they wouldn’t start a fire until dusk, when it was time to cook their food and warm their bodies for the night. But they had enough food today, and she didn’t want to try to steal anything. Not when it was so much easier to curl into John’s side and listen to his stories and pretend it was all friendly, like she wasn’t falling a little deeper in love with him with every word he spoke. 

With her back turned to the entrance of the cave, it was hours before she saw outside again. She chastised herself for getting so sloppily caught up in him. John made it easy to forget that the rest of the world wasn’t like him. The world outside was brutal, but he had never been anything but kind to her.

John’s breath hitched when his eyes focused on the cave’s entrance. Emori turned her head to look with him. It was beautiful outside. A blanket of white was covering the ground and hanging from the branches of the trees.

Emori grabbed his hand and led him outside. John scuffed at the snow with his shoe, and she crouched down to pack a ball of it between her hands. He watched her in awe, didn’t even stop her when she reached back up and flattened it right over his head.

John’s jaw fell open, shivering at the impact. “Oh, you are _in for it_.” He recoiled, running away from her. He crouched down and packed a snowball between his hands. Emori followed suit and grabbed a handful of snow, watching him struggle to get it right out of the corner of her eye. She suppressed a laugh. John was such a child.

He threw the snowball straight at her, and she didn’t have the heart to dodge it as she so easily could have. It was worth it, to see the gleeful look on his face when the snow hit her straight in the shoulder and bursted back into powder.

But Emori wouldn’t let him win that easily. He’d gotten his one shot in, now it was time to _demolish_ him. She must have gotten an evil glint in her eye, because then John was jumping behind a tree. Emori packed a few messy snowballs and lined them up in her arms. She crept over to him.

Thankfully it was a powdery snow, otherwise there would be too much crunch to disguise her footfalls as she approached him. He was crouched down behind the tree, bottom lip pulled in between his teeth as he tried to figure out how to make the powdery snow pack together. He must have gotten lucky with the first one—he was _not_ succeeding now.

Emori used his distraction to her advantage. The snow wouldn’t fly far, not with this consistency. But she could sneak close enough that by the time his head shot up at her presence he had a ball of snow straight in his chest.

She ducked away from him. He ran after her with a snowball in each hand. He tried throwing one at her, but she was too far off and it vanished to powder before it could hit her.

She took advantage of the snarky little frown that formed on his face to run closer to him and hit his left arm with another ball of snow as she passed. He shot around to chase her.

John all but tackled her, shoving a glob of snow in between her shoulder blades and pushing her to the ground with the force of it. They fell in a heap, John crashing down beside her with his arm strewn over her back.

The snow was cold on Emori’s cheek. Her body was alive and wet with the melting snow. She shivered. John was panting and smiling like an idiot, and she realized that she was too. He stroked his thumb absentmindedly where it lay on her back while they caught their breath.

His touch brought her attention to how close they were to each other. She liked the weight of his arm around her and his leg draped over hers. But it wasn’t enough.

Emori scooted closer. “I’m cold, John,” she said, pouting out her bottom lip.

“Yeah, and whose fault is that?” He tipped his head to her, moved his hand to wrap more deliberately around her waist. It was all Emori could do not to lean in and kiss him right then. She had only kissed him the one time, before they’d escaped on her boat together, and that was on the cheek. Since then, her lips had been buzzing with the memory. Emori wanted more, wanted to experience all the ways to be with him and hold his body close. She wondered what his lips would feel like, if they’d be soft or rough, gentle or hard against her.

She probably wouldn’t get to find out. She was falling in love with John, and cocky enough to think he was too. But he was nervous. He liked to be in control and hated when he wasn’t good at something straight away. Emori had seen it in everything she taught him, how he’d beat himself up when he made a mistake. And love… it was clear that was something he’d never done before. Not like this. He’d never been vulnerable like this. Never held someone close, never let them touch him with care. Maybe no one had ever wanted to.

Emori couldn’t make the first move to kiss him, not without knowing he was ready. She could stop herself. But she couldn’t help but hope that he wanted her as much as she wanted him, that someday he’d show her just how much that was.

“I’m cold too,” John admitted. “Wanna- wanna share body heat?” He was nervous, and it was adorable.

She wiggled that much closer, laying her larger hand on his chest and pressing their bodies together. She was still cold, but there was a fuzzy warmth that radiated off of John and into her skin where they touched.

“I’m still cold,” she teased him, glimpsing down to his lips. “What are you gonna do about it?”

“Hmm.” He closed the last of the distance between them, bringing his lips down on Emori’s. She froze. As much as she wanted this, she wasn’t expecting it. John’s lips were chapped and rough but he kissed her so sweetly it didn’t matter. It was like a dream, and she was afraid she would wake up if she moved a muscle.

John pulled back, panic setting in over his face. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-” Her heart throbbed. She couldn’t let him think he was the only one who wanted this.

Emori interrupted him by surging her lips back to his. She kissed him passionately, trying to pour everything she felt for him into it. She brought her right hand up to cup his jaw and he held her tight against his chest. The kiss was messy and a little awkward, neither of them knowing what they were doing but wanting to try anyway.

It was Emori who pulled back this time. It was getting hard to breathe with his mouth covering hers so fully. John’s eyes stayed shut for a second before fluttering open to look at her again.

“I hope you meant it, John.” She nodded minutely. “ _I_ mean it.”

A shy smile flashed across his face. “Thank _god_.” He kissed her again, but they were both smiling so much it was mostly giggles and clacking teeth.

When their lips broke apart once more, Emori nuzzled her face into John’s chest and let out a contented sigh. She couldn’t look at him anymore. Not when he looked at her like she was everything to him. It made her want to confess everything. Made her want to tell him she loved him.

But she couldn’t humour the thought of telling him. Not when he wasn’t ready, and definitely not when it could send him running. So she basked in the feeling quietly, lulled by the brush of John’s hand on her back and the movements of his chest as his breaths steadied. She didn’t need to hear him say he loved her. Maybe he did, but maybe he never would. Either way, Emori could handle it. She could handle anything, as long as he held her close to his beating heart and never ever left her.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello beautiful people!
> 
> There are two crimes in fandom: the first is that there isn't enough memori fluff out there, and the second is that no one seems to care about winter after the holidays pass. So of course I had to write a oneshot to do my bit to remedy that ;)
> 
> Please leave me a comment and/or kudos down below if you enjoyed this! I get stupid excited every time I see one, you all mean so much to me. I want to know: how do you headcanon memori's first kiss? or whatever else you wanna talk about I'm not picky
> 
> -Mobi <3


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